Two, a lot many of the party’s committees and posts are either vacant, or occupied reluctantly. Pranab Mukherjee resigned as West Bengal party chief in early 2006 — his resignation has not been accepted or a new president appointed. In Tamil Nadu, P. Krishnaswamy is state president for more than a year, but has not been allowed to constitute an executive. In Madhya Pradesh — a state where the Congress won only four of 29 seats in 2004 and expects big gains — state president Subhash Yadav is a lightweight among the warring biggies, such as Suresh Pachauri, Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijay Singh. In Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to increase from its present strength of four, state president B.D. Kulla expects to be removed anytime. So is the case with the party’s student and youth wings — for instance, in election-bound Himachal Pradesh, the student and youth wing presidents have been there for the last decade and want to leave. Now it has been decided to maintain status-quo until elections — meaning, reluctant chiefs will lead the party! In Madhya Pradesh, there is no president for the Youth Congress for two years. In Chhattisgarh, the PCC chief attracts a crowd of 200 in his meetings.

From the Hyderabad plenary in January 2006 onwards, a reshuffle of the AICC has been pending — since then seniors like Ambika Soni and A.K. Antony have moved to the cabinet and several have proved their disinterest or inefficiency. The possible entry of Rahul Gandhi is now delaying a restructuring. Everything must fit into Rahul’s scheme of things. Meanwhile, the institution of AICC general secretaries acting as arbiter of disputes in states under their charge has collapsed in recent years. General secretaries end up in one camp or other. Digvjjay Singh is perceived to be shielding the CMs of Andhra and Assam from dissidents. Janardan Dwivedi is thick with Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda but was at logger heads with Amarinder Singh in Punjab. Dissatisfied elements in the states queue up at 10 Janpath for an audience — Sonia Gandhi’s primary engagement with the party is in settling petty clashes.

... contd.